The NBA thread 2011/12

[Jerseyman]

Was released in mid July last year so expect a similar date this year. lucky bastard

Cheers man. It's a bit annoying as I want to look at booking the trip soon so I may have to just ride my luck to which games I will have access to while I'm over there. NFL will be first week of finals when I'll most likely be in NY so catching a Giants or Jets home final would be amazing if it turned out that way.

[TakingthePapiss]

Pop wins coach of the year

[flight23]

Vogels robbed

[sblack]

Reebok bringing back a limited release of the original "The Question' sneaker worn by AI in his rookie season

$125. Definitely getting a pair.

Complex all over it as usual

[Forbes]

Denver Nuggets center Chris "Birdman" Andersen excused from team after cops search his home - The Denver Post

........

[Cheech]

Denver Nuggets center Chris "Birdman" Andersen excused from team after cops search his home - The Denver Post

........

wtf

[James Pattinson]

wtf

No surprises that he's involved in some sort of illegal activity.

Every time I see him on the court I expect him to kill someone.

[Embers]

In the NBA yearbook he always strikes me as the "Most likely to have drug lab in his basement" kind of guy

[flight23]

Denver Nuggets center Chris "Birdman" Andersen excused from team after cops search his home - The Denver Post

........

The Oklahoma City Thunder PA Announcer Just Got Fired For Allegedly Committing Lewd Acts With Minors | Complex

[Jerseyman]

Reebok bringing back a limited release of the original "The Question' sneaker worn by AI in his rookie season

$125. Definitely getting a pair.

Complex all over it as usual

They will go perfect with your Red/White Iverson Phila Jersey!!

[r Kerrigan_DE]

Larry Legend wins executive of the year, no surprise. First guy to win player, coach and executive of the year award. what a champ.

Bird was hired as team president in 2003 and learned the ropes at Donnie Walsh's side. He helped put together one of the best teams in the league in his first season, a 61-game winner that seemed poised to rule the Eastern Conference for years to come.

Then he endured the franchise-changing brawl at the Palace in Detroit in 2004 that gutted a championship contender; a series of arrests and public embarrassments from his players in the following seasons that alienated a hoops-crazy fan base; and three coaching changes as he looked to change the culture of a free-falling franchise. A four-year playoff drought had many in his home state calling for Bird's head, a startling fall for someone who once could do no wrong in Indiana.

A fed-up Bird started a massive overhaul in 2006. The house-cleaning took years and included the trades of Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson and Shawne Williams, the exile of Jamaal Tinsley and the move from hard-driving head coach Jim O'Brien to unproven 38-year-old assistant Frank Vogel.

"We had to change the culture," Bird said. "I thought Jimmy O'Brien really helped us in that aspect. He came in here and knew exactly what we had to do. We had to not only change the culture, but we had to take it slow and get some players we thought we could build around."

After exhibiting some questionable personnel acumen early, Bird has pulled off some savvy moves to assemble a cohesive, hard-working team that finds itself deadlocked 1-1 with the heavily favored Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

"For that franchise to get to this point, it needed to have a guy like Larry who has tremendous patience, a very strong will and the determination to see a plan through," said Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle, who coached the Pacers from 2003-07 and has been a friend of Bird's since their playing days together in Boston.

Bird added Granger, Paul George, Roy Hibbert and Tyler Hansbrough in the draft, George Hill, Lou Amundson and Leandro Barbosa through trades and David West in free agency.

"I left five years ago, and at that point in time he basically laid it out and said this is what it's going to take," Carlisle said in a phone interview from Dallas. "It has played out exactly how he pictured it."

Playing in small-market Indiana, Bird hasn't had the luxury of an open checkbook to chase max salary players in a max salary league. He's had to worry far more about fit, chemistry and work ethic, and that's just fine with him.

"I knew it was going to be tough, and it's still tough," he said. "We don't drive revenues like the big-market teams. We can't go after $17 million players. We've got to go a different way, and we've got to do it a piece at a time."

The new-look, veteran group has restored the Pacers' gritty, blue-collar attitude and helped them to the No. 3 seed in the East and had the fifth-best record (42-24) in the league.

Indiana Pacers' Larry Bird named NBA Executive of the Year - ESPN

[r Kerrigan_DE]

Gregg Popovich, who was runner-up for the position in 2005, is a leading candidate to succeed Mike Krzyzewski as coach of the US senior national team.

"If you recall, Mike and Pop were my two choices in 2005," Colangelo said. "When I talked to Coach K, he almost jumped through the phone. I didn't sense that same enthusiasm in my conversation with 'Pop.' Afterward, he sent me a letter and said I misinterpreted what he said. He felt I had misjudged him, and maybe I did. But that was a long time ago. How can anyone argue with his record, his performance? With him as a great coach?"

Popovich is expected to be on a short list of candidates that will likely include Tom Izzo, John Calipari, Mike D'Antoni and Nate McMillan.

D’Antoni and McMillan have been on Krzyzewski’s staff since 2006.

"The rules can change," Colangelo said. "You have to be able to adapt. Coach K came in and we changed the infrastructure, the culture, the program. After London, we'll sit down and look at everything. Pop would certainly be a leading candidate if it's going to be a pro coach."



Read more: Popovich Leading Candidate To Succeed Krzyzewski As Team USA Coach - RealGM Wiretap

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